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Some data centers use water continuously to remove heat, and facilities with evaporative cooling can consume water as it evaporates. Others use different cooling designs or combinations of systems, so a project’s actual demand depends on its equipment, operating conditions, water source, and local climate. Residents evaluating a proposal should ask for both projected volumes and the cooling design behind them—not rely on a single efficiency ratio or a label such as “liquid cooled.”
How do data centers cool their servers?
Servers and other information-technology equipment turn electrical energy into heat. Cooling equipment moves that heat away from the data hall so the equipment can operate within its required conditions. In a common arrangement described by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (DOE FEMP), heat passes from the IT equipment through cooling equipment and water loops to a cooling tower. The tower releases heat by evaporating some of its water into the atmosphere.
A cooling tower’s water does not all leave in the same way. Evaporation is the main water-consuming part of the process: that water becomes vapor rather than returning to the system as liquid. Blowdown is water deliberately discharged to control the concentration of minerals and other dissolved material in the circulating water. A smaller amount may escape as drift, meaning droplets carried out of the tower with the air. Blowdown may go to a wastewater system or another permitted destination; residents should ask the project and relevant authorities where it will go and how it will be treated.
Cooling demand can be continuous because computing equipment produces heat while operating, but water use is not a single fixed amount for every site. DOE FEMP says overall consumption in data centers that rely on cooling towers is directly related to the heat load created by IT equipment and other data-center loads, as well as the efficiency of each step in removing that heat. In practical terms, an estimate should identify its assumed computing load and facility operating conditions; a maximum-day figure can differ meaningfully from an annual average.
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Cooling designs differ
A proposal may use an evaporative cooling tower, air-side economizing, water-side economizing, direct liquid cooling, or a hybrid arrangement. Economizing uses suitable outdoor conditions or other design opportunities to reduce reliance on mechanical cooling. The contribution of an economizer depends on the design and operating conditions; its name alone does not show how often it can be used or how much water it saves.
Direct liquid cooling transfers heat from IT equipment to a circulating liquid loop. That describes how heat is collected, not necessarily how it is finally rejected from the facility. DOE notes that some direct-liquid-cooling configurations still send heat to a cooling tower. Therefore, “liquid cooled” does not by itself mean “no evaporative water use.” A system diagram and description of all operating modes are more informative than a technology label.
When reviewing a design, trace the heat path: from the IT equipment, through the relevant cooling loops and heat exchangers, to the final point where heat leaves the site. Ask which parts of that path use water, whether a tower operates year-round or only under certain conditions, and what happens during hot weather or other demanding operating periods. This makes it possible to distinguish a change in the equipment near the servers from a change in the facility’s total water use.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsHow much water does a data center use?
There is no single defensible amount for all data centers. A project’s estimate needs a time period and a development phase, and it should distinguish water brought to the site from water consumed or discharged. Ask the developer to report expected annual, monthly, and maximum-day use for both the initial operating phase and the full planned build-out. Ask what assumptions it used for occupancy, computing load, cooling design, and operating conditions, and request actual-use reporting once the facility is open.
It helps to keep several water quantities separate:
- Withdrawal or supply: water taken from a source or delivered to the site. If municipal water is involved, ask what volume the project expects the utility to supply.
- Consumption: water that is not returned to the source in the same usable form or location over the period being considered. Evaporation from a cooling tower is one example.
- Discharge: water leaving the site as blowdown or other wastewater, including its destination, treatment, and monitoring arrangements.
- Peak demand: the largest expected demand over a stated interval, such as a maximum day. It helps reveal supply and infrastructure needs that an annual total can conceal.
These terms should not be treated as interchangeable. A project could withdraw water and return some of it as treated discharge, while consuming another portion through evaporation. Request the expected values for each category, the units and periods used, and an explanation of how the figures were calculated.
What does WUE tell residents—and what does it leave out?
Water usage effectiveness (WUE) is a site water-use intensity metric. It is calculated as annual site water use in liters divided by IT equipment energy use in kilowatt-hours. It can help describe water use relative to computing energy, but it is not a stand-alone measure of a project’s effect on local supplies.
A ratio does not tell residents the site’s total annual demand or maximum-day demand, whether the water is potable, reclaimed, or drawn from another source, how much is consumed rather than discharged, or how local supplies are affected. A facility with a favorable intensity ratio can still have a substantial total demand if its computing activity is large. For a meaningful review, request the WUE calculation and its boundaries alongside absolute annual and peak volumes, source-water details, and discharge estimates.
DOE FEMP’s 2019 guidance reports a PUE of 1.06 and WUE of 0.7 for the National Laboratory of the Rockies data center in a discussion of a hybrid cooling system. Those are figures for that case study, not a typical-facility benchmark or a forecast for another project. If a developer presents a performance figure from another site, ask what facility, time period, system boundary, and operating conditions it describes, and whether it is a measured result or a projection.
What should residents ask about a proposed data center’s water use?
The following questions are practical prompts, not a universal legal checklist. The relevant applications, approvals, reporting duties, and public-comment opportunities depend on the project’s location and current local and state rules.
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1. How much water is expected at each phase?
Request annual, monthly, and maximum-day estimates for initial operations and full build-out. Ask for the assumptions behind them, including planned computing load, facility occupancy, cooling configuration, and operating conditions. Ask whether estimates include construction demand or only operations, and request a reporting commitment for actual use after opening. A comparison between an initial phase and the eventual full build-out is useful only if each figure is labeled with its phase and assumptions.
2. Where will the water come from?
Ask whether the project plans to use potable municipal water, reclaimed wastewater, groundwater, surface water, or another source, and how much it expects from each. Ask whether new wells, pipelines, treatment capacity, or other infrastructure would be needed; who would pay for them; and what drought or shortage restrictions would apply. “Reclaimed” or “non-potable” should be tied to a named supply and an expected volume, not treated as a complete description of the project’s water impact.
For example, the City of Gilroy’s 2026 project page gives an estimate of 23 acre-feet of potable water per year for the initial phase of the AWS data-center project. The city says the figure was updated August 12, 2026, to align with the environmental review. It is a project-specific estimate, not a general data-center benchmark. The example illustrates why residents should ask for the proposed project’s own source, phase, quantity, and supporting document.
3. What is consumed, and what is discharged?
Ask for estimates of evaporation, blowdown, drift, and other wastewater, rather than one undifferentiated “water use” figure. For discharge, request the expected volume, treatment requirements, destination, monitoring method, and applicable approvals. Those details help show how much water may return to the local system, in what condition, and where. They also make it easier to compare the project’s stated supply requirement with its actual consumption.
4. What cooling system and operating modes are proposed?
Request a system diagram and a plain-language account of how heat moves from IT equipment to the environment. Ask whether the design includes cooling towers, when they operate, whether they are expected to run year-round, and when air-side or water-side economizing can reduce mechanical cooling. If direct liquid cooling is proposed, ask how heat leaves the liquid loop and whether the final heat-rejection stage uses evaporative cooling. Request projections for relevant operating conditions, not only a description of the equipment.
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5. Which demand-reduction measures are part of the design?
Ask whether the project plans to use higher chilled-water temperature set points, reduced airflow, economizing, higher cycles of concentration, condensate recovery, reclaimed-water reuse, or filtration. Ask how each measure changes the projected water balance and whether the savings were modeled for the local climate and intended operating schedule. A measure’s presence on a design list is not proof of a particular saving; request the assumptions and figures used for the specific site.
DOE FEMP’s 2019 guidance gives examples, not universal guarantees. It says certain practices that enable higher chilled-water temperatures and reduced airflow can produce 20% less chiller energy, and links those practices to reduced cooling-tower heat rejection and water use. The same guidance reports 20% lower cooling-tower makeup water and 50% lower blowdown when cycles of concentration increase from three to six. These figures describe the practices and conditions reported by FEMP; they should not be applied automatically to a different facility. Ask whether the proposed project can achieve comparable changes and what site-specific model supports the estimate.
6. What permits, hearings, and reporting rules apply here?
Ask the local planning department and water utility which project applications and water approvals are required, whether hearings or public-comment periods are scheduled, and how to access the relevant filings. Ask what ongoing reporting obligations would apply after opening. Confirm deadlines and current rules directly with the responsible jurisdiction: they vary, and an example from another city or state does not establish what applies locally.
Current official examples show that processes differ. Utah’s Division of Water Rights describes reporting requirements effective July 1, 2026, for qualifying new large data-center projects: those over 10,000 square feet and intending to draw at least 75 acre-feet of water annually. Whether those criteria or requirements apply to a particular proposal depends on the current law and project facts; residents should verify both with the state. Hayward’s application process and Tyrone’s project approvals are separate local examples, not a general procedure for other communities.
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7. Who verifies forecasts and checks actual use?
Ask whether the water utility or regulator reviews the developer’s demand assumptions, which measurements will be collected, how often actual withdrawals, consumption, and discharges will be reported, and whether reports will be public. Ask who is responsible for responding if actual use exceeds projections and what enforceable permit conditions or other consequences apply. A voluntary company pledge is not necessarily an enforceable requirement; ask which parts of a public commitment are written into approvals or reporting obligations.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How should communities compare cooling options?
If a developer or public agency is considering more than one design, compare the options on several dimensions rather than ranking them by one efficiency measure. The relevant trade-offs include:
- Annual and peak consumptive use: projected volumes at initial operation and full build-out, plus maximum-day demand.
- Water source and local scarcity: source type, expected supply, and the local context for shortages or drought restrictions.
- Discharge: expected volume, quality, treatment, destination, and monitoring.
- Energy and reliability: energy demand and expected performance under local climate conditions and operating modes.
- Capital and operating implications: what infrastructure and ongoing operations each option requires, as stated by the project.
- Measurement and enforceability: what will be measured, reported publicly, reviewed, and required by permits or other binding approvals.
DOE FEMP’s guidance indicates that water and energy effects can move together or involve trade-offs. For example, a proposed measure may reduce cooling energy and also reduce heat rejection and water use, but that does not establish the result for every facility. Request comparable estimates calculated for the same project, phases, operating assumptions, and time periods. If the project has not supplied a value for an important comparison, ask for it rather than assuming that a technology label or another facility’s result answers the question.
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How to turn project claims into checkable commitments
Terms such as “water positive,” “closed loop,” and “liquid cooled” are not, by themselves, complete descriptions of a project’s local water impact. Ask the developer to translate each claim into measurable information: source-water volumes, consumptive use, discharge volumes and destinations, measurement boundaries, reporting frequency, and the document or approval that makes any commitment binding.
For a useful public record, residents can keep a simple question log organized around the project’s water balance and approvals. For each answer, note the document and date, the phase it covers, the units, and whether it is a forecast or a measured result. If an application gives annual demand but not peak demand, or gives a site-wide total without identifying source water, ask the utility or project representative to clarify the missing field. This makes disagreements easier to pinpoint without treating unlike quantities as if they were equivalent.
Residents should also distinguish an estimate from a limit. A projection describes what the developer expects; it may not, on its own, cap use or require public reporting. Ask the planning department, utility, or regulator which approval documents set any binding conditions, who monitors compliance, and what happens if measured demand differs from the forecast. The answer depends on the jurisdiction and the terms of the project’s approvals.
What a complete public explanation should show
A water assessment that communities can evaluate identifies the cooling design and traces the heat-rejection path; gives annual, monthly, and peak-day estimates by phase; separates source, supply, consumption, and discharge; and explains its assumptions. It also identifies measures intended to reduce demand, describes the local supply and drought context, and states what will be measured and made public after operations begin.
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Residents do not need to infer local impact from a ratio, a pledge, or a technology label. The central questions are how much water this particular facility would need and consume, where it would come from, what would be discharged, how those figures change by phase and operating condition, and which public approvals or reporting requirements make the answers verifiable.
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